COSEE NETWORK NEWS 2010
March 2010
 In This Issue CNN Vol. 3 No. 3 | March 2010 
Focus On...2010 Ocean Sciences Subscribe
COSEE Workshop Reports
Tools That Work: Success Stories
Network News
Central Coordinating Office News
Working Group Updates
COSEE at Conferences
Center News
COSEE Network Calendar
Announcements
Audio and Video Resources
COSEE Centers and Council Representatives
Focus On...2010 Ocean Sciences
 
Group shot of COSEE representatives at the Network meeting
 
The COSEE Network had an impressive showing at the recent Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland, Oregon. Read the report here. Read one participant's first-person account here. COSEE posters and presentation materials from the meeting are also on view here.
 COSEE Workshop Reports
COSEE Ocean Systems At a recent workshop for graduate students sponsored by COSEE Ocean Systems, representatives from several COSEE Centers were on hand to contribute. Read a full report.

COSEE Alaska The 2010 Alaska Marine Science Symposium featured workshops, luncheon speakers and activities sponsored by COSEE Alaska. Read the report here.

COSEE West At the AAAS meeting in February, COSEE West hosted a symposium Building Bridges Between Ocean Scientists, Educators, and Students. Read the full report here.
 Tools That Work: Success Stories
The COSEE Excellence in Networking Tools Sub-Group (ENTs) is reviewing all of the online networking tools that COSEE Centers have tried. This is a place to showcase the tools that have worked - and why!

SEW-G and Skype
The Scientist Engagement Working Group (SEW-G) has had great success using Skype, a free tool used for conference calls. The Production Team now conducts all of its weekly meetings via Skype, a huge benefit to the conference call budget. Find out how it’s working here.
 Network News
COSEE China From March 5-13, participants from eight COSEE Centers are visiting Beijing, Xiamen and Qingdao to explore the possibility of establishing a COSEE China. Keep up with what’s happening on the COSEE China blog! And a recent article in the University of Southern California News highlighted the trip. For more information contact Bob Chen.

Testimony to Congressional Committee COSEE California PI Craig Strang recently testified before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science about the importance of inquiry-based science education, and in particular about the role that NOAA, NASA and NSF play in improving science education. Craig also made sure to hand out the new COSEE brochure [see below], the Ocean Literacy brochure and copies of the special issue of Current that was dedicated to COSEE activities. Read Craig’s testimony.
 Central Coordinating Office News
New COSEE Brochure A new COSEE brochure was produced in December 2009 and made its debut at the AGU Conference in San Francisco. The 5-inch by 5-inch, double-sided, 6-panel brochure is in full color. The brochure includes information about the Network, what COSEE Centers offer, and how the Network collectively works to achieve its goals. The front side of the brochure is intended for scientists, while the backside is geared toward educators. The brochure also includes a list of states in which COSEE has a presence.

In an effort to enhance Network branding, photos that appear in the brochure also appear in Center one-pagers, on the exhibit booth and on the COSEE.net website. Each Center PI and National Advisory Committee member received a supply of brochures at the end of January. The CCO has since distributed hundreds of brochures at the AGU and Ocean Sciences conferences, and received very positive feedback. If you would like copies contact Romy Pizziconi.

Opportunities for Students Flyer Thanks to input from the COSEE Network, a flyer detailing internships and fellowships (see under Oceans of Opportunities) has been published and was handed out at the recent Ocean Sciences conference.

LinkedIn Join the COSEE LinkedIn group!
 Working Group Updates
Professional Development (PD) Ad Hoc Committee New to the COSEE Network scene is the Professional Development (PD) Ad Hoc Committee, which held its first web teleconference in September 2009. This group of Center PD coordinators and facilitators initially assembled during the May 2009 COSEE Network Meeting. Based upon an interest in perpetuating discussions beyond the scope of the Network meeting, the group decided to collaborate monthly via web-based conference calls.

The overall goals of the PD Ad Hoc Committee are: to professionally share Center projects and resources, pose questions and challenges, and foster connections among the Centers. As a framework, each call is thematically based, reflective of the needs of the PD group. For example, in January, the group addressed Center strategies and challenges associated with increasing diversity in ocean sciences. In February, the Excellence in Network Technologies subgroup (ENTs) presented their Wiki, which outlines a suite of web-based tools and resources. Upcoming meetings will be scheduled for March and April. To join the COSEE PD listserv, or for more information, contact Elizabeth Vernon (EV) Bell.

Scientist Engagement Working Group The Scientist Engagement Working Group (SEW-G) will be meeting by telecon again on March 22 to continue work on the case study website. The Production Team has nearly completed work on the first case study, with Dr. Bob Chen of University of Massachusetts Boston, who represents COSEE New England. Dr. Carrie Thomas of North Carolina State University will represent COSEE Southeast for the next case study. Plans are in the works to schedule visits with Dr. Rick Keil (University of Washington, COSEE Ocean Learning Systems), Dr. Scott Glenn (Rutgers University, COSEE NOW), and Dr. Crystal Johnson (Louisiana State University, COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico). The first group of completed case studies will be presented to the National COSEE Network at the May Network Meeting in Seattle. For further information on SEW-G please contact its Chair Jessica Kastler.

ENTS Sub-Group The Excellence in Networking Tools Sub-Group (ENTs) recently held a joint conference call with the PD Ad Hoc Committee [see above], who provided excellent feedback on the ENTs online networking tools Wiki guidebook. Additional joint calls are planned, in which the ENTs will aim to provide expertise to the PD group on specific usability topics. Using the PD feedback, ENTs will be finalizing the guidebook and begin disseminating it to the Network in the coming weeks. For more information contact ENTs co-chairs Carla Companion and Catherine Cramer.

Screenshot of COSEE Alaska's home page
Web Working Group Our new functionality to provide partners and Centers not on the Content Management System with their own "About Us" pages is well underway based on Raytheon Web Solution's demo to the WWG this week. Also moving along: individual Center blogs that, with Center approval, will be ported to the COSEE.net site. For more information, contact Annette deCharon, WWG Chair.
 COSEE at Conferences
COSEE Poster
 
New Conference Resources Page There is a new page on COSEE.net devoted to COSEE posters and presentations featured at national conferences. We already have a good selection of presentations from the recent Ocean Sciences conference. If your Center would like your conference materials included please send them to Lisa Taylor.

Conference Attendance Survey A recent survey showed that COSEE Network members attended or plan to attend many national conferences and meetings in 2010, including: AAAS, Oceans, NSTA, NMEA, AZA, SACNAS, MTS, AGU, NARST, AERA, ASLO, International Conference of the Learning Sciences, NAAEE, and American Anthropology Association. For help decoding acronyms contact Liesl Hotaling.

COSEE at NSTA 2010 Philadelphia COSEE will have a significant presence at NSTA this year, offering a full day of sessions on March 20 as well as a luncheon. The COSEE exhibit booth will again be on display for the duration – please contact Liesl Hotaling if you can volunteer to staff the booth. For a full list of COSEE sessions visit here.

REMINDER: COSEE at NSTA 2011 Share your good ideas - submit a session proposal for NSTA's 2011 national conference in San Francisco, March 10–13, 2011. The deadline is April 15, 2010. The strands for the 2011 conference are: Embracing Technology in the 21st Century Classroom; Accessing Language Through Science and Mathematics Content; Exploring Earth, Wind and Fire; Building Scientific Minds: Inspiring Teaching and Effective Learning.
 Center News
COSEE Great Lakes workshop participant
 
COSEE Great Lakes announces its 2010 summer professional development programs: Shipboard and Shoreline Science on Lake Michigan, July 6-12; Lake Ontario Exploration Workshop, July 25-30. There are also numerous scholarships available: for an expedition to Honduras, field courses at Stone Lab, O’LAKERS student field experiences, and marine immersion programs.

COSEE Alaska Read the Alaska Symposium Report. Visit SEANET for blog posts, resources, and more.

COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico The latest COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico newsletter is now available online.

COSEE NOW Listen to new episodes of the Ocean Gazing podcast.

COSEE Ocean Systems Read the report on the workshop to investigate climate, ocean, and biosphere connections by teaming graduate students with prominent researchers.

COSEE Coastal Trends workshop participant
COSEE Coastal Trends is offering two teacher workshops, hosted at University of Maryland's Horn Point Lab in Cambridge, Maryland. Coastal Trends Workshop, August 9-12, 2010; Teaching Ocean Science Workshop, June 28-July 1, 2010. Note that there is also an opening for a teacher research fellow (see Programs tab).

COSEE West A joint Climate Day event with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab will be held March 26-27. The COSEE West workshop at the recent Ocean Sciences meeting was featured in a recent post to the AGU blog.
 COSEE Network Calendar
For the up-to-the-minute list of upcoming COSEE events, visit the COSEE.net Events page.
 Announcements
Open NSF Dialogue NSF is developing an Open Government Plan, which will serve as the roadmap for plans to improve transparency, better integrate public participation and collaboration into the core mission, and become more innovative and efficient. You are invited to submit comments and suggestions. Visit OpenNSF dialogue before March 19 to give your input. View NSF's progress on Open Government Activities.

NOAA and Google Join Forces to Visualize Scientific Data NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and Google have signed a cooperative research and development agreement outlining how they will work together to create state-of-the-art visualizations of scientific data to illustrate how the planet works. Under the agreement, NOAA and Google plan to work together on research and development to join NOAA's oceanographic, meteorological, biological, and climatological data with Google's software capabilities. For more information read the NOAA Media Release.

NOAA Plans for Climate Service NOAA recently announced a plan to develop a one-stop shop for climate predictions paired with the launch of a revised climate website. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco announced the intent to create a NOAA Climate Service line office dedicated to bringing together the agency's strong climate science and service delivery capabilities. Details here.

IPMEN 2010 Conference Registration, call for papers and scholarship application forms are now available for the International Pacific Marine Educators Network (IPMEN) 2010 conference, July 6-9, 2010, Sigatoka,Viti Levu, Fiji. Download forms or contact Sylvia Spalding.
 Audio and Video Resources
Live Transmission from Beneath Antarctic Ice Researchers at Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research dangled two continuously-recording hydrophones beneath the 300- foot-thick Antarctic ice, providing you with live streaming audio. Whales, seals, cracking ice, and even the sputter of lightning flashes from distant storms all make guest appearances. Tune in to the live sounds of Antarctica!

Ocean Today Video Kiosk provides access to current and archived videos of the Ocean Today kiosk at the Sant Ocean Hall in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. The website offers a transcript of the video along with links for more information.

Podcasts from EOL The Enyclopedia Of Life Learning and Education website recently added new features to the podcast page, including episodes featuring Box Jellies and the Great White Shark. The series of 13 podcasts will be paired with educational resources, a Meet the Scientist section, and a page full of audio extras and fast facts from EOL.

Our Ocean World is a daily radio feature that brings listeners around the world news and information about issues related to the ocean. Listen to the podcast.
Contribute to CNN! Send news and announcements of interest to the COSEE Network community to the editor, Catherine Cramer.

 COSEE Centers and Council Representatives
COSEE Alaska (Nora Deans, North Pacific Research Board)
COSEE California (Craig Strang, UC Berkeley)
COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico (Sharon Walker, Institute for Marine Mammal Studies)
COSEE Coastal Trends (Laura Murray, U of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
COSEE Great Lakes (Rosanne Fortner, Ohio State University)
COSEE NOW (Janice McDonnell, Rutgers University)
COSEE New England (Billy Spitzer, New England Aquarium)
COSEE Ocean Learning Communities (Phil Bell, University of Washington)
COSEE Ocean Systems (Annette deCharon, Darling Marine Center, University of Maine)
COSEE Pacific Partnerships (Jan Hodder, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology)
COSEE SouthEast (Lundie Spence, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium)
COSEE West (Linda Duguay, University of Southern California)